India beat Pakistan by 4-3 goals to finish third in the keenly contested place-deciding play-off match of Hero Men’s Asian Champions Trophy hockey held today at Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium in the city.

It was India who took the lead in the beginning of first quarter when Harmanpreet Singh converting a penalty corner in the very 2nd minute. However, Pakistan bounced back in the match as Arfraz scored a brilliant goal to make the score line 1-1 in the 10th minute.

After a goalless second quarter, Pakistan went ahead as Abdul Rana scored a superb goal in the 33rd minute to make the score line 2-1 but when the match was going away from India’s grasps, Sumit restored the parity scoring a field goal in the 45th minute.

The game was set for a perfect grand finale and it was India who stepped up their game when it matters the most. Varun Kumar scored the third goal for men in blue in the 53d minute before Akashdeep Singh made it the score line 4-2 scoring a magnificent field goal in the 57th minute.

With just over three minutes to go, Ahmed Nadeem reduced the margin for Pakistan and the match was set for a crazy finish. But, India held their nerves, in the end, by securing a magnificent victory to clinch the third spot in the tournament.

Earlier, in the round robin league stage, India beat Pakistan by 3-1 goals.